ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The Seward County Commission hears from local residents asking for variances on zoning regulations on a regular basis, with some of those requests being approved and others denied.
Monday, the commission will hear from one of its own on such a request, as Commissioner C.J. Wettstein is requesting a variance on a garage he has built next to his house in rural Seward County.
Planning and Zoning Director Albert Gallegos sent a letter to Wettstein denying the request because it did not meet the front yard setback requirements outlined in the county’s zoning regulations.
Earlier this month, Wettstein sent his fellow commissioners a letter requesting the variance, and he said when zoning regulations were passed in 1996, he was told a property, if zoned agriculture and of more than 40 acres, zoning laws did not affect the landowner.
“I actually have 1,040 contiguous acres that surround my residential area with my land being on both sides of the road,” he said in the letter.
Wettstein said Planning and Zoning officials told him the garage was too close to the road easement, even though the building is 10 feet inside an evergreen tree on the property, with his nearest neighbor just less than a mile away.
“When I measured the distance from the north ditch line to the north edge of my garage, it was 84 feet,” he said. “If you subtract the 60 feet of road right-of-way off the 84 feet, I have 24 feet from the edge of my garage to the south right-of-way line of the road. I was told I was supposed to be set back 40 feet from the south right-of-way line.”
Wettstein outlined his reasons for wanting the garage, and he said nothing about the placement of the garage would bring harm to anyone, create problems for anyone or limit visibility for anyone driving down the road.
“This garage is placed inside the tree row that has been there for 60 years with no adverse effects on anyone at this time,” he said. “The garage can’t even be seen from the road.”
Monday’s meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the commission chambers in the Seward County Administration Building.
